Building a starting roster

A new team has 1,000,000 gp and needs at least 11 players. Everything else is a trade-off, and the trade-offs are the same for every roster.

Players first, then re-rolls, then the rest

Eleven players is the floor, and most coaches start with eleven or twelve so that a single casualty does not leave the team short for the second half. Linemen are the cheapest way to reach eleven; the positionals are where the money goes. Decide which positionals the team cannot do without (a thrower for a passing team, two blitzers for a bash team, a Big Guy if the roster has one and you want it from day one) and buy those before you buy the third catcher.

Team re-rolls are the second priority and the reason the roster page shows their price. A re-roll bought at team creation costs the printed price; one bought later costs double, so it pays to buy as many as you will want now. Two is the usual minimum for a team whose players lack Block or Sure Hands at the start; three is comfortable for an elf team that rolls a lot of dice; agile Stunty teams want as many as they can afford. The re-roll price varies between 50,000 and 70,000 gp by team, which is why a 70,000 gp team usually fields eleven players and two re-rolls where a 50,000 gp team fields twelve and three.

Apothecary, fans and staff

An apothecary (50,000 gp) is worth it from the start for a team whose expensive players are fragile, and for any team in a long league where a death in the first match sets you back a season. Teams that cannot hire one (the undead rosters) spend that money on a player instead. Dedicated fans, assistant coaches and cheerleaders are cheap and have small effects; most coaches leave them until the treasury has something spare after a few matches.

What to leave for later

A fourth re-roll, the second Big Guy, the sixteenth player and all the staff can wait. Winnings arrive every match and the first few thousand gp go on replacing whoever got hurt. A roster that spends every last coin on day one and reaches match two with ten fit players has already lost something.

Check the arithmetic on the team page

Every team page lists the roster with costs and the re-roll price, and its "Building a starting roster" section walks through the common build for that team with the sums. Once the roster is chosen, make the cards; the maker tracks the team value as you add players.